1 Samuel 1:9-12 – What Mom Needs To Do – Bible study

1Samuel 1:9-12A What A Mom Needs to Do What does a mom need to do to rear good children? Even more, what does she need to do to rear godly children? Everyone from the child psychologist to the man or woman who has abandoned their children across three or four marriages has an opinion. May I share with you some principals from the Bible? After all, our children are too precious to experiment with, are they not? Since they only get one childhood and that childhood will determine their course in life, should we not base our parenting on methods which have proven for hundreds, even thousands of years? I think so. Now, let me say upfront that nobody, except Jesus, is perfect. No mother or father gets it right all the time. But, by the grace of God, we can learn from our mistakes and start doing better. This morning, lets learn some things that we can start doing better this afternoon. What does a mom need to do to be a successful mother? I. A mom needs to pray. A. Hannah was a woman who prayed. 1. You might remember that Hannah could not conceive children. To make things worse, in those days men often took two wives and the second wife really picked at Hannah over that fact. 2. So Hannah decided to take her matter before the Lord. She prayed and asked God for a miracle, and God gave it to her. B. Hannah illustrates that the greatest asset a mother has is God! 1. We serve a God who cares. 2. We serve a God who gets involved in our lives. 3. We serve a God who can do anything. C. What kinds of things should you pray about? 1. Little girls ought to already be praying for their husbands. a. Prayer is not just something you start when you have a need. Prayer is something you do so that you wont have the need. b. If you are any age at all, chances are your husband is already alive and kicking somewhere. c. Pray him into a man of God. (1) Pray and ask God to save your husband-to-be. (2) Pray and ask God to make your husband-to-be a man who will love you. (3) Pray and ask God to make your husband-to-be a man who will love God. (4) Pray and ask God to keep your husband-to-be pure. (5) Pray and ask God to make your husband-to-be a godly father to your children. (6) Pray and ask God to give your husband-to-be a good day. d. Once you get married, keep praying for your husband. (1) Pray for his wisdom. (2) Pray for his work. (3) Pray for his walk with God. 2. Pray your children into existence. a. That is literally what Hannah did. This is a woman who would have never been a mother if she had not prayed. b. Ask God to shape your child as He would have your child to be shaped. (1) Ask God to give your child the temperament that He would have. (2) Ask God to save your children at an early age. (3) Ask God to give your child the godly values that only He can impart to them. (4) Ask God to give your children godly mates. 3. Pray for a hospitable world for your child to grow in. a. The world has become a more wicked place while at the same time becoming a more accessible place. (1) Things that were once wrong are now deemed acceptable if not out right good for you. (2) That is just the nature of the world. b. However, the danger to our children is that all of the evil is so easily accessible now. (1) For the last 10 to 15 years, some have been urging Christians to put filters on their computers because of all the wickedness out there. (2) bad music, porn, gambling, predators (3) But now, most every child in America can get to these things on their private cell phone! (4) Pray for the temptations that your children will face. c. One of the most difficult battlefields for a child has become the classroom. (1) I believe in education, but many educational systems are indoctrinating our children with anti-God beliefs. (2) Some of them say that sex is alright. In fact, they have classes on it in school, give them birth control devices, and sometimes take them to have an abortion without ever consulting with the parents. (3) Evolution is the science of modern-day education, even though the whole premise of evolution is based on the know-to-be-false theory that life can generate from nothing. (4) Homosexuality is taught as an alternate lifestyle. (5) I am trying to preach an anti-education message, but I am trying to point out that your children are living in a world that is hostile to Christianity. (6) Children need mommas prayers more than ever before for there is an on-going battle for their minds and, for most children, the battlefield is the school. (7) Pray for you children in school. d. Today, the wall of separation between church and state is being eroded. (1) Since 9/11, the government has been promoting the Muslim religion. (2) Why? Because the liberals control most things today and liberals honestly believe that the reason we had a 9/11 was because Americans dont understand Muslims. (3) They believe that we, in our ignorance, offended the Muslims. (4) Pray for the country that you live in. e. Pray that God will turn this world back to a wiser mind-set. D. Momma, pray for your children. 1. Pray for their salvation. 2. Pray for their dedication to Christ. 3. Pray for their preservation in the world. 4. Don’t just pray for your children, let me see you pray for them. a. Kids see their mothers do everything from laugh to leave. b. What they see today will become tomorrows memories. c. They need to see their mothers pray today so that they remember that image in years to come. II. A mom needs to prepare. A. Most people who read the Bible know Timothy was a man of God. 1. What they might not know is that Timothy was a man of God because of the preparation of his mother. 2Timothy 1:4 Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; 5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. 2. In that verse, Paul says that Timothy received his faith from his mother Eunice who in return received it from her mother Lois. 3. In this statement is a great truth for being a successful mom. a. You start preparing your children by first preparing yourself. b. The most valuable characteristics that you will implant in your children are not the things that you will TEACH your children but the things that you will TRANSFER to your children. c. Lois had a FAITH that she transferred to Eunice. Eunice had a faith that she transferred to Timothy. 4. If you want to prepare your children for great things, prepare yourself first. a. Too many parents think that all you have to do to be a good parent is to conceive a child. b. Have you ever noticed that most will spend at least 12 years preparing for their career and then only spend a few hours to a few days preparing to be parent? c. Your children will be made in your image. d. The only difference will be that, whatever your image is, they will likely move a little further from God. (1) What you think is questionable, they will think is right. (2) What you think is right, they will think is old fashioned. (3) What you experimented with will become their habits. (4) What you did in moderation, they will do in excess. e. You need to stop and figure where that is going to put them and you need to do it before they get very old. B. What kinds of things do mothers need to have so that they can transfer them to their children? 1. Like Lois and Eunice, a mother needs to transfer her faith in Christ to her children. a. Parents are the most influential force in the lives of their children. b. When it comes to the influence that a Christian parent can have, some would call this influence "brainwashing." c. It is due to that basic premise that, this past January (2011), a New Hampshire judged ruled that a 10 year old girl was "too Christian." The court acknowledged that, while being home- schooled (which the girls loved) , she was well liked, social and interactive with her peers, academically promising, and intellectually at or superior to grade level, but then it ordered her out of the home schooling so that her religious views could be challenged at a government school. http://usactionnews.com/2011/01/too-christian-10-yr-old-christian-home-schooled- girl-forced-to-attend-government-run-school/ d. I agree with the judge up to the place where he understands that a child is influenced at the very foundation by the teachings of the home. e. Mom, if you want your children to go to heaven, you need to give them of your own faith while they are young. 2. Mothers need to transfer a love for Christ to their children. a. Here is where having a "professing" salvation defers from having a "possessing" salvation. b. I meet people all the time who say they are Christians. What I dont often find are people who love Jesus. c. Ladies, if there is anything that you should know about love is that words do not mean love, actions do. (1) If you are going to say that you love Jesus, prove it with your actions. (2) Read your Bible, pray, go to church, abstain from wicked vices, speak with a holy language, demonstrate godliness, and kindness, and above all things, walk with God. 3. Mothers need to transfer their love and faith in the Bible to their children. 4. Mothers need to transfer their love and faith for a godly church to their children. a. I emphasize there for a GODLY church. b. All church are not the same. c. Sadly, many today are little more than social networks or activity centers. d. These are NOT the primary roles of the church. e. The church is to exalt Jesus Christ and to preach the Word. III. A mom needs to protect. A. The mother being spoken of here is Jochebed, the mother of Moses. Exodus 2:1 And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. 2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. 1. Pharaoh had given a command that all the Hebrew children were to be thrown into the River Nile. Amram and Jochebed refused. Instead, they hid Moses for three months and when he was too big to hide, they trusted God and placed him in a basket which they sailed down river. 2. Certainly, their lives were at risk for this action. This mother placed the life of her child before her own. 3. Sadly, such selfishness is a thing seldom seen today. Mt 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. a. One of the signs of the end time is that love shall diminish. b. Today, mothers and fathers slay their own children. c. Many of those not slain are abused and abandoned. d. And many of those not abused and abandoned, are left uncared for and unloved. e. Many mothers never think enough of their own children to learn to cook a meal for them, to clean the house, or to even stay home with their own children. f. Mothers (and fathers), put your children first! Protect them, love the, nurture them. B. But not only enemies announce themselves like Pharaoh did. 1. There are scores of enemies after your child today. 2. Drugs, violence, sex, gangs-these are all enemies who have pledged themselves to robbing your child of their purity, their purpose, their morality and character, their conscience, even of their very lives. 3. In addition to these, there is spirit of laziness after our children. a. It seems to be that there a many kids who feel the world owes them. b. They dont want to better themselves, to learn, to get a job. c. They just want to eat, drink, and be merry. C. Mom, if you dont protect your children, one or more of these enemies will capture and most likely destroy your child. D. So how can a mother protect her child? 1. First, take heed to the things I have already said. a. Pray for yourself, your husband, and your child earnestly. b. Prepare yourself and transfer to your children these godly characteristics that will make them spiritually strong in life. 2. Put some barriers up in your childs life, that is, draw some boundaries. a. There should be a boundary between things your child can and can not do. b. There should be a boundary between things your child can and can not say. c. There should be a boundary between actions and behaviors that you will and will not allow your child to do. d. There should be a boundary between music, videos, movies, and television that your child can and can not listen to or watch. e. There should be a boundary between friends that your child will and will not have. f. There should be a boundary between times that your child will and will not be up. g. There should be a boundary between attitudes that your child will and will not be allowed to have. h. There should be a boundary between your childs responsibilities and the parents. i. And on the list goes. (1) Everyone used to know the importance and the necessity of boundaries. (2) Somewhere along the way, parents threw them out. 3. Seek wisdom and truth. Jas 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. a. Even with all the things I have mentioned adhered to, every family and every person has their own unique obstacle course to run. b. Every parent needs a direct line with God Himself. This isnt the kind of message you finish for the Bible is a wealth of teachings and examples that if you will learn them and incorporate them into your life and the lives of your children, you will find that being a mother is a most blessed event.